


The Children of Hades

by Miiabatg



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Adventure, Camp Half-Blood (Percy Jackson), Escape, F/M, Friendship, M/M, On Hiatus, Pretend Jason died somehow, ToA never happened, finds out she's a demigod, overprotection, running away from camp
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:35:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 10,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26716123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miiabatg/pseuds/Miiabatg
Summary: Nico is tasked with finding and collecting a new demigod, and it is clear that he or she is a child of the Big Three.  He desperately wants this new kid to be a child of Zeus or Poseiden, anything but Hades.  When he finally brings her in, he's devastated, but she's not.  She's living her best life, and getting used to the monster slaying like a pro.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang, Jason Grace/Piper McLean, Nico di Angelo & Will Solace
Kudos: 11





	1. The Dream

**Author's Note:**

> So Jason dies by spear during a quest, not ToA. Hades has another child but pretend that its allowed at that point, I don't know, I just needed it to work so I could write this.

“Nico.”

A deep voice boomed through his dreams, and there was only one person it could be.

Fighting his way through the nightmares, he called out, “Father?”

Finally, the last monster dissolved into smoke, and a tall, dark figure rose out of gloom.

Studying his father carefully, Nico realized Hades didn’t look any different than he normally did. A good sign.

“What do you need?” he asked carefully; it was always something different.

Hades sighed. “There is strong evidence that indicates that you, Thalia, Perseus, and Hazel are not the only surviving children of the Big. Once you wake, you will receive further information, however, the retrieval of the child must fall onto your hands, I command it.”

Nico was bewildered. Why did he have to get a possible Zeus or Poseidon—or even Hades child—and not a satyr?

Before he could ask, he felt his consciousness stirring, and soon he was staring at the dark ceiling of the Hades Cabin at Camp Half Blood. It wasn’t too long before he decided to get out of bed and see a certain blonde child of Apollo that could possibly be the one person besides Hazel that he actually wanted to see.

Will was already waiting for him at the pavilion and smiled up at him before Nico sat down next to him, fighting the grin that threatened to compromise his reputation.

The spring day was reasonably warm, but there was a chill in the air that felt, honestly, rather exhilarating, at least to Nico. Will was bundled in a sweater, but he looked like he could go for another, maybe, twenty more.

Nico finally let himself grin. “Will, it’s not even that cold.”

“Maybe to some people,” Will grumbled, still looking… Nico erased the thought before he thought it.

They both laughed and Nico felt himself leaning towards Will, who wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

Nico didn’t want to bring up the dream. Not now, not here, but he knew he had to. “I had a dream,” he said, reluctantly. Will was definitely awake now - demigod dreams were important. “There’s another Big Three child and my father wants me to get him. Her. Whatever. Anyway, I’m supposed to get more information today.”

“It’s probably too early,” said Will, easily. “This is seriously early for you. Normally, I wait for another thirty minutes, sometimes even an hour for you.”

“I’m not a morning person,” Nico grumbled as Will laughed and ruffled Nico’s hair. If it had been anyone else, they would have been in danger of losing a hand or three, but this was Will and he always made Nico feel ten times better, even if Nico didn’t show it.


	2. The Girl

After breakfast, Chiron had collected all the cabin heads for an “important meeting.” Nico knew what it was about before Chiron even started talking.

“There is a surge of demigod energy coming from  _ this _ town in New Jersey.” He pointed to a map spread out on the ping pong table. “It was lucky we got it this early because the child is only ten now and almost no monsters have been sighted. Thalia has been taking the place of Teaching Assistant in order to monitor this child. She is not authorized for a pick up yet, not until we say so.”

Piper put her hand on the table. “I’ll go.”

Everyone knew why. If this was a child of the Big Three, Zeus could possibly be the parent, and after losing Jason, Piper needed some kind of solace.

“I have to,” said Nico, surprising everyone at the table. “Hades told me.”

Piper sat down in a slump while everyone gaped.

“Dream,” he explained.

“Well then, son of Hades,” said Chiron, who knew how important these things were, “you should go.”

Nico nodded and stood up. “It’ll just be a check, I’ll be back by dinner.”

***

He found the town and could definitely feel that weird swooping feeling in his stomach that made him sure exactly where the kid was. At school.

***

Now, he was perched on the roof of an elementary school watching as the fifth graders had their recess. He’d found her already, turning one-handed cartwheels with a few other girls. She did not show an exemplary talent for gymnastics, but she was decently good. She had dark hair, which worried Nico, but only slightly. For his father to have  _ another _ child, that would be quite… Nico wasn’t sure of the word, but it rhymed with “terrific” and started with “hor”.

Now, a blonde girl readied herself for a back walkover. This one clearly had gymnastics training because she did three in a row before returning to the group.

The demigod girl was clapping along with a few others and had such a bright smile that Nico had to look away.

For a few seconds, he’d seen her as the girl in the green hat. The one that had given him the gold mythomagic figurine. The one who’d been lost. The one that had broken Nico.

That could cause a lot of problems.

***

“When will we be removing her?” asked Annabeth as soon as Nico had returned and the seniors convened again.

Nico sighed. “Not yet. I can’t.”

“Why not?” asked Will, full of concern. “She’s ten, the same age you were when Percy found you.”

Nico winced at the memory and the sharp sting of nostalgia. “That’s why. She needs to stay. To be… happy.”

“Nico, there’s no time for sentimentality here,” said Annabeth, sharply. “She’s a child of the Big Three, she’s in danger and there’s the possibility that she could avoid monsters because she’s only  _ 10 _ .”

“I know, I know. Just, please, let her stay, at least another year?” he pleaded.

Annabeth, who didn’t know Nico  _ could _ plead, along with almost everyone else in the room, relented. “Fine, but I want her here by next year.”

Nico nodded.


	3. Giving In

Though he had promised Annabeth a year, he’d actually waited two more. After a couple of information trips, he’d learned that the girl was named Teagan and almost nothing could bring her down, not even the switch to middle school.

Teagan was twelve and Nico’s time was running short. If Teagan had switched to dark clothing and almost 70% less exuberance, Nico would surely have brought her to Camp. But the problem was, Teagan’s smile had not diminished, she loved to help, and her friends were close and only seemed to be exponentially multiplying.

Finally, Thalia put her foot down.

“Nico, I’ve been a TA for  _ three years _ now and my hunters have been without me for a long time. I’ve been slaying monsters practically every week and I’m tired of it. You  _ need _ to bring her back to Camp and soon,” she said, during April’s check up.

“Fine, fine.” But Nico still couldn’t.

***

When he got back to Camp, everyone was waiting around the ping pong table with surprisingly grim faces. Hazel and Frank had arrived and were also there, having been filled in on the info.

Annabeth, her face dangerously stern, stood up and said, “Nico, why are you not bringing Teagan in.”

Nico sighed. “She’s too young.”

“Percy was twelve when he got here,” reminded Annabeth. “She’s the same age.”

“Fine.” Nico turned his attention to the ground and took a deep breath. “I don’t want to remove her because she’s… she reminds me of Bianca.” His voice cracked.

“Oh, Nico.” Annabeth’s voice was full of concern now.

Nico felt a small hand on his knee.

“She’s in danger,” said Hazel, gently. “If you want to honor your sister’s memory, you have to bring her here.”

Nico let out a small breath and stood up.

“Where are you going?” asked Hazel.

“She’s coming here by the end of today.”

Hazel smiled. “You can do it, big brother.”

“Bring her home,” agreed Percy.

Stopping only to exchange a glance with Will, Nico stepped out into the bright Spring sunshine.


	4. Meeting Teagan

Teagan’s day had been normal, with the highlight being her English teacher, the beloved Mrs. Fords, who had given her a new book to read, and she couldn’t wait to start it on the bus.

During p.m. Homeroom, the TA, Phoebe, who had spiky dark hair and bright blue eyes and who’d been with their grade since fifth, announced that today was the end of her TA career and she was finally going to go to college.

Directly after, Phoebe pulled Teagan aside and said, “I have a friend. He’s an expert on Greek mythology, would you like to meet him?”

Teagen beamed. She was such a Greek mythology nerd and loved it. “Of course. Why?”

“We’re going to meet you at home to talk to your parents to take a summer course in Greek Mythology. I’ve already talked to them and they want to see what you say.”

“Awesome!” she exclaimed. “I can’t wait!”

“Great,” said Phoebe. “We’ll see you soon.”

Maybe she should have asked how Phoebe knew where her house was, but for now, she didn’t want to miss her bus - and her book!

***

The walk from the corner to her house was glorious, with the birds singing, the Spring flowers in bloom, and the extremely saturated blue sky above her, painted with a few thin, white cirrus clouds.

As she approached her cream-colored colonial, she noticed a black car parked right in front and remembered about the Greek mythology expert. She was expecting some dumpy old professor, maybe with a beard, in an old polo shirt in slacks. Hopefully, he wouldn’t be the grumpy kind of professor.

Her mother opened the door, looking strained. Teagan had forgotten that she and Teagan’s father had been working from home that day.

Walking into the kitchen, Teagan saw her mom and dad behind the kitchen island while Phoebe, of course, and a high school age boy sat on the stools. Maybe he was the assistant of the professor?

Phoebe smiled. “Hey, kid, this is the expert.”

She was gesturing at the boy.

“Haha, very funny, Phoebe,” said Teagan.

The boy was thin and had an air of… emo? Goth? He wore all black and had that moody sort of brooding that always indicated the mysterious bad boy in all the books she’d read. The silver skull ring was definitely a clue.

“Wait,” she said. “You’re the boy from my dreams!”

“What do you mean?” asked Phoebe, curiously. “Tell us.”

Teagan struggled to remember. “Um… I think you just stare at me. Yesterday’s, though, you reached your hand out and I was going to take it but then I woke up.”

The boy nodded. “I’m Nico di Angelo.” His voice was low and it sounded as if he didn’t do much speaking. “Your parents have something to tell you.”

Teagan’s mother looked nervous and glanced at her father before saying, “You know how you’re adopted?” Though now was a weird time to be bringing it up, Teagan nodded. “You are actually only my child. Your father, your real father is a god, a Greek god.”

This was confusing to Teagan. “I don’t get it?”

“Honey,” said her mother, looking mortified, “I’m your biological mom, but your real father is not mortal, he’s a Greek god.”

“What!?” Teagan got the first part, but the second made no sense. “My dad is… not mortal?”

Phoebe took over. “You know the Greek gods, and you know Greek mythology, but those are actually all real.”

“Real?”

“Yes, real. Every single god, demigod, and monster is real, or has been real this whole time.”

“But how come I never noticed anything?”

“The Mist is something that covers weird incidents and various monsters and makes them look like something normal. Do you remember that time we had a lockdown because of that gunman and everyone was so scared? Well, it was actually a hellhound that I had to kill.”

Teagan’s eyes were about to pop out of her head. “Why did you have to kill it?”

“I’m a demigod, a child of Zeus. You know how important he is?”

“Well, duh.”

“There are the Big Three gods, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, and their children are extremely powerful. All demigods have this… scent that monsters catch and the older you get, the stronger the scent gets. You’ve been attracting a lot of monsters, but thankfully, I always get there first.” Thalia tugged on her backpack which somehow morphed into a silver bow and a quiver of arrows. “I’ve saved your life about fifty times by now since fifth grade, kid. Nico always chickened out of coming to collect you until now.”

“You’ve been watching me since fifth grade?” Teagan wasn’t exactly sure if that was comfortable.

“Yep. You’re a child of the Big Three. We could feel your demigod-ness since then, but if we don’t bring you to Camp soon, more monsters could come after you.”

“Why do they come after us?”

“Because we’ve been slaying them since ancient times. It’s kind of like our divine purpose in life. Monsters don’t stay dead, they simply reform in Tartarus and then take the journey back to the mortal world. It could take five minutes or fifty years, but the monster will be back.”

Teagan had put her finger on something. “Can monsters have babies?”

Phoebe turned to Nico, who shrugged. “Maybe?”

“Well, then,” said Teagan, matter-of-factly, “that’s kind of a losing battle. The monster grow exponentially and demigods can die, so if the monsters aren’t using that to their advantage, then they’re stupid.”

She laughed at her own bluntness and Phoebe joined in.

“Well, they aren’t known for having big brains. But, anyway, we really need to get going. Oh, and you should know that my real name is Thalia.”

“Okay, Thalia.”

“Wait! You don’t have to take her!”

Everyone turned to stare at Teagan’s mom, who looked anxiously around.

“Please, Charles”—that was Teagan’s dad—”we can keep her safe, right? If we just… keep her at home? There must be something you can do, Thalia, all you demigods can work something out–”

“We can’t,” replied Thalia, shortly. “She’ll be gone all summer at the very least. As a child of the Big Three she may have to stay year round. If she stays here, she and you all will be dead by the end of the summer, I guarantee it.”

“Yes, you could–you could form a guard of some sort–” Teagan’s mom looked like she was bordering on hysteria.

Cutting her off coldly, Thalia replied, “We have over a hundred demigods at Camp; Teagan’s not a special case. Besides, she will learn survival skills at Camp as well as how to fight monsters, so if she is deemed able to defend herself by the end of the summer, she will be released home for the school year. If not, she will be held at camp until she can defend herself.”

Teagan’s mom rounded on her daughter desperately. “Teag–”

“I’m going, mom,” Teagan replied, with a finality.

Looking stunned, her mom drew back. “I—what—”

Glancing up at her newfound friends, Teagan declared, “Let’s go.”

As the three demigods left the house, Teagan could hear quiet sobbing echoing from the kitchen and felt a tinge of guilt, but it was gone the moment she slid into the backseat of, apparently, Nico’s car. Thalia hopped into the passenger seat and immediately called, “Dibs on the music.”

Nico, with his hands on the steering wheel, only glared at Thalia’s smug face.

***

During the car ride, Teagan was as goofy as she ever was, telling jokes and sharing stories. She even made Nico laugh once!

“So then, she dumped water on the toaster and the fire went out, but she forgot to unplug it! She couldn’t touch it, of course, so she just left it and aired the room out. Then, she got a call and had to go back to the work room, so she forgot that the toaster was burned. When I got home, everything smelled like smoke and there was this burnt toaster on the counter. Being a pretty stupid kid, I thought the house was burning down, so I ran across the street to my neighbor’s house and called 911. When the fire trucks came, my mom just opened the door and there were a ton of fire trucks and firemen looking at the house, so she thought they were going to arrest her or something. She knew she didn’t do anything wrong, so she yelled ‘Are you stupid?’ at the firemen.”

Nico’s laugh was out before he could reign it back in and Teagan was extremely proud of herself.

“I didn’t think you were capable of laughing,” said Teagan.

“Neither did I.” Thalia, who’d been laughing the entire time, was now near tears.

Now, Teagan was on a whole new subject. “It would be cool to be a child of Iris, or maybe Apollo. Who’s your godly parent?” she asked Thalia.

“Zeus.”

“Oh right. So you’re one of the Big Three?”

“Yep.”

“If I’m a child of Poseiden, we’ll be a trio!”

Thalia winced. “Actually we already have one. And another child of Hades.”

“Who’s the Poseidon kid?”

“He’s the most powerful demigod ever; he even made it out of Tartarus alive along with the strongest female demigod: his girlfriend, Annabeth. His name is Percy.”

Teagan was glad that she already knew a ton of Greek mythology. “What’s Tartarus like?”

Nico surprised everyone by speaking. “It’s a little different for everyone and almost no one will talk about it, but only three demigods have ever come out alive.”

“Who’s the third.”

“You’re speaking to him.”

Though it was sunny, storm clouds engulfed Nico’s face and everything about him seemed ten thousand times darker.

Teagan was aghast. “You? But you’re only… ”

“Sixteen.”

“... Sixteen. I’m guessing demigods die a lot.”

“Yes.”


	5. Sunstreaked

When Piper saw Teagan, she was struck by the naivete within Teagan’s sparkling dark eyes and windblown dark hair. At closer glance, her hair was sun-streaked with chocolate highlights, which said a lot about her personality.

Everything about her was sunny, reminding everyone else of shadows. _Just a side effect of demigod-ness_ , thought Piper.

She’d immediately taken Teagan around for the tour, desperately wanting something to keep her mind preoccupied, even though the incident was now years old. Just glancing at Teagan and being reminded that she was a child of the Big Three and possibly Jason’s sibling was enough to bring back the memory of that agonizing day.

Though the pain faded, the tears did not.

“Are you okay?” Teagan’s face was full of concern, like a five-year-old examining an injured bunny.

Piper wiped her eyes. “Fine.”

Teagan looked like she had suspicions, but kept them to herself. “Let’s walk by the lake.”

***

The sun sparkled off the impossibly blue water, just like those eyes that equally haunted and consoled Piper while she slept. Those few months after, were agony, with Annabeth as almost a constant companion.

Then there were the weeks when she’d thrown everything away. Wanting to rid herself of him and the blood and the spear. She remembered that one night, when she’d taken the boys out to a tattoo and piercing parlor, the sting of the needle on her arm which now bore an eagle holding a spear in its talons. Percy had emerged with an earring in his right ear, a simple blue stud with an owl’s face, almost imperceptible on the tiny disc.

Finally, the fog had lifted and there were only moments like this: some tears and the slight, enveloping hands of melancholy.

“You’re not okay,” said Teagan, with absolute certainty. “Sit.”

They both plopped onto the grass.

“I think you’re the talking person, but I need to make sure. Do you want to talk, or no? Or do you want me to talk until you do?”

“Third option, please.” Piper’s tears were in free-flow now.

_[You don't actually have to read this, I was just running random thoughts that went through my head. Its really just meaningless and doesn't really relate to the story, so don't feel bad if you skip it.]_

“Okay. So you’re a talking person. I’m not. I’m not good at this at all, but I’ll try. I seem like someone who doesn’t care for much, but I’ve realized that I’m a people pleaser. I like to please, I hate criticism. I know criticism is supposed to be good, but I just can’t stand it much. That’s why I do so well in school. I have no real passion for math, but my parents are so invested in it, I just have to. I only play violin and piano because I’m afraid of what will happen if I don’t, my parents won’t be happy and I’m afraid that their advice will make me better. But it’s not exactly like that but kinda. I’ve begged to stop, but my parents make me do it anyway, but the only reason they have is basically for ‘character building.’ I don’t really know why I haven’t done something actively, but as I said, I don’t really like criticism much and I hate people yelling at me. Maybe it's because I can’t yell back? To be quite literal, everyone says I’m quiet, they can’t hear me when I speak, but I guess I’m just used to it. I don’t really know who I am. I’ve asked myself that question and I know myself but, I don’t know, I just don’t. People are always saying ‘Be yourself,’ but if there are so many contradicting things with so many different facets, how can you be yourself?”

“I can talk now,” said Piper, feeling slightly more stable. “So… demigods live short, horrible lives filled with… ” She didn’t want to mar Teagan’s innocent mind, but she didn’t have to worry.

“Death. I know.”

“Maybe you’ve already guessed, but I lost someone.”

“I did guess. This person was really close to you, like the closest _ever_ and then you were broken. I read a lot.”

Piper laughed, shakily. “You do. His name was Jason, he was a child of Zeus - Jupiter, actually.”

Teagan gaped. “Phoe-Thalia never told me!”

“She probably couldn’t, they were full brother and sister.”

“... And you were his girlfriend,” said Teagan, again hitting the nail.

“Yes, but we broke up right before and then he tried to be noble and save me by sacrificing himself.” Piper figured that it would be really confusing, but Teagan was right on the ball.

“I’m guessing you realized he was actually your best friend, not your boyfriend, and you guys didn’t really get along for a while and then he died and you never got your best friend back.”

Piper nodded, the lump in her throat too big for speech.

Teagan wrapped her thin arms around Piper, the twelve-year-old comforting a seventeen-year-old. But, like Teagan herself, there was much more on the inside than the outside and soon, Piper was full-on crying and not caring much about it.

Soon, Piper was all cried out and it was dinner time.

“Come sit at our table,” she urged and of course, Teagan said yes.

***

Teagan had seen many of these older campers around the camp but she’d never met them, and was quite nervous.

First, was an authoritative blonde girl who was Annabeth, the Tartarus trekker, who arranged the introduction. “Everyone goes around clockwise, saying who you are and whatever else you want to say. I’m Annabeth, child of Athena, and the Camp coordinator along with Chiron. I’ve been here possibly longest, so if you have any questions, just ask me.”

Next, was a comfortable looking dude with dark hair and sea green eyes who had his arm wrapped around Annabeth, as if they were a single, high-functioning organism. “I’m Percy, son of Poseiden, come to me tomorrow for sword-fighting lessons, okay?”

Teagan nodded happily. Percy didn’t seem like much, but there were some scars that didn’t show, and he looked like he’d been through a lot by the way his eyes shifted and were slightly haunted looking.

“I’m Hazel,” said a girl, looking like the youngest, “child of Pluto. I’m Roman, which means I’m a child of the Greek gods in a different form, the Roman form.”

This, of course, led to other questions, and it was a good fifteen minutes before she was filled in on the Great War etc.

The mood was darker now, but it was compromised by a burly Asian dude who was clearly Hazel’s special other. “I’m Frank Zhang, son of Mars and I’m Canadian. I’ll be in charge of archery tomorrow.”

“Cool,” Teagan said. “Although I’m a dancer, not much of an arm person.”

There were a few chuckles before a scrawny, elf-like dude with the most mischievous smile Teagan had ever seen, introduced himself.

“I’m Leo, son of Hephaestus, the greatest god to ever god.” Yep, he was the funny one. “Maybe come in for a crafting lesson, you can make your own sword.”

“Yeah, like I can do that without burning myself.”

Next was the boy next to Nico, who looked perfectly at home with his arm slung around Nico’s shoulders. “I’m Will, son of Apollo, I’m a healer. You can have your first lesson tomorrow.”

Nico, who she already knew, went anyway. “I’m Nico, son of Hades. I teach hand-to-hand combat. It sounds like something that might be a little easier for you.”

She couldn’t help smiling at his attempts at being all emo and goth and whatever, but with Will, he showed a little more of the fluffy bunny he actually was.

Piper didn’t need to introduce herself _at all_ after the beach trip, but she went for the sake of appearances. “I’m Piper, daughter of Aphrodite, blah blah blah. And _no_ makeup jokes.”

Teagan shrugged. “I guess the power of Aphrodite _is_ your makeup.”

Piper rolled her eyes playfully while Leo snickered. “I like this girl.”

“Hey guys,” Percy said, with a child-like excitement, “let’s go watch the sunset.”

Everyone shrugged and agreed.


	6. Chosen

The sunset was beautiful, streaks of color blending, dripping, dancing across the sky to the likings of none but the universe. It really was such a powerful moment, so different from the ones blocked by trees and houses back in New Jersey.

At last, the sun was under the waves and everyone decided to get back to their cabins. There was a question of where Teagan was going to sleep, but it was decided that she should sleep in Percy’s cabin, which had the most space.

But then, something changed in the light of the hearth and braziers.

Annabeth, who’d been studying Teagan, gasped and tugged Percy’s sleeve without breaking her gaze to a spot on top of Teagan’s head. Hazel turned and put her hand to her heart. That made Teagan slowly look up, apprehensive of what she would see, but what she saw was a hologram-like symbol hovering above her head.

It was black, but there was a white light all around it that illuminated the skull slowly rotating above Teagan’s head.

***

Nico couldn’t help his being abjectly horrified at the symbol of his father atop this girl, this upbeat, enthusiastic, exuberant, clever girl who was now the face of his worst fear.

Another child of Hades, another child who would be snapped back to face the harsh reality of being a demigod, but worse. There was an unspoken hate and distrust from those who were blessed with better godly parents.

Not that Hades was a bad father, he really was one of the best in that case, but it was the aura of death and misery that reeked from even the very mention of him that Teagan would have to face that one day, if not soon. Now, another innocent child was condemned to face the legacy of the Hades children. If only his father would stop having children, that would definitely be best.

***

It was past curfew, but Nico couldn’t help wishing that Will was there, so he shadow jumped into the Apollo cabin and stood, watching Will sleep in his bunk. He snored like a saw on wood.

Nico didn’t dare speak or the entire cabin would know and probably tease them about it, but as if he sensed Nico’s presence, Will stirred and opened his eyes. When he saw Nico, he smiled, sleepily and held his hand out. Nico took it and they both melted into shadow.

***

Morning already, Nico found that Will had left, probably to avoid detection by the campers (especially by Hazel and Teagan who were on the other side of the white partition running down the center of the Hades cabin). Waking fully, he tugged his sneakers on and was about to head to the arena for a run, but was stopped when someone hissed his name.

“ _Nico_.”

Teagan was sitting on her bed, fully dressed with her sneakers on.

“Are you going running?”

He nodded. “Yep, you want to come?”

“I would, but I probably can’t run as long as you.”

There was a smile tugging at his lips. “It’ll be fine, you can sit out when you get too tired.”

Teagan beamed so bright, she seemed like a second sun and leaped off the bed to join Nico.

As he’d guessed, Will was already running laps in the chilly, late-spring air and smiled at Teagan when she entered the arena.

“Okay, let’s stretch out,” instructed Nico and started to do lunges and hamstring stretches etc., most of which Teagan did with ease.

“My parents are marathoners and I’m a dancer. Flexibility is easy,” she explained after seeing Nico’s surprised glance.

Soon, they were ready to start. Nico was about to tell Teagan that she shouldn’t go too fast at the beginning, but it seemed that Teagan already knew. She started off, barely even at a jogging speed that Nico matched.

For a while, it was just their even breathing and the _pad pad_ sound of their sneakers on the ground, before Teagan started to talk.

“I like Will, he’s nice. You’re lucky.” She didn’t have a trace of jealousy as she said it; it was simply a statement.

“Thanks.”

“I’m your sister, do you like it?”

“I think… it’s great.” The parent thing was a problem, but he felt a sort of… happiness about her, though he didn’t know why. There was this inexplicable pull of his joy-strings that made it impossible to feel disappointed she wasn’t in a different, better cabin.

“I like Hazel, too. She’s nice.”

He smiled a little. “She is, isn’t she.”

“Look, it's Percy and Annabeth.” She waved at the two, still rather sleepy figures standing in the doorway of the arena. They waved back.

After a little more running, Teagan admitted she was tired and walked off towards where the blonde and brunette stood. They seemed to be having a cheerful chat, because Percy chuckled a few times and Annabeth was smiling.

He finished his final lap and walked towards where Will was standing, shirtless from his workout. Being honest, he would also have done so if Teagan and Percy hadn’t been there. Even though the air was cleared, he still felt a little awkward next to Percy, being shirtless wouldn’t have helped.

He turned to find Teagan had gone off with Percy and Annabeth somewhere, making him relax a little as he glanced back to Will, who smiled. They were alone.

***

The “chat” had been rather fun and Annabeth had brought up finding Teagan a real weapon of her very own. She’d gone off with them to the weapons shed and was currently standing in a sea of celestial bronze.

There were bows and arrows and swords and daggers, but she had yet to find her perfect match. In practically the last corner she looked, she found something that seemed rather old and worn. A length of celestial bronze rope that was frayed but seemed to hum in her hands.

“That’s a whip,” said Percy, sounding rather surprised. “I didn’t know we had one.”

“Only one,” replied Annabeth. “Go see Leo, he will be able to replicate it as new and you’ll finally have your own weapon. Congratulations!”

With a final smile at the inseparable, survivor couple, she turned towards the forges that, even now, were blowing smoke into the sky.


	7. A Weapon

The door of the forge opened and Leo turned to greet the arrival. It was the star of camp, the newest camper, the daughter of Hades who was pretty much the opposite of gloomy and didn’t have a tragic past. Quite refreshing, he guessed.

Grinning, Leo asked, “What brings you here?”

She brightened her already brilliant smile. “I found a weapon and was hoping you could duplicate it - it's kind of old.”

She produced a rather worn looking bronze whip.

He hummed. “Whips are more Roman-esque, and this seems to be a newer model, just used super hard. Don’t worry, your boy Leo is on it. Come back in the afternoon, I’ll probably have it ready by then, okay? Have an awesome day!”

***

She was walking through the strawberry fields when Percy came running up.

“Hey! HEY! Teagan!”

She turned. “What?”

“I have a present for you.” Percy was grinning suspiciously wide.

“What present?”

He pulled a small sticker, probably from some kind of fruit, and stuck it to her forehead. “Ta da!”

Teagan reached up to feel it. “Thank you!”

They both chuckled a little before Percy remembered why he was here.

“Do you want to come for a sword fighting lesson?”

Teagan didn’t have to think about it. “Sure.”

***

“Here, try this sword. A little too heavy, try this one. Hold it out. Good!” Percy stood up from where he was kneeling. “First, we’re going to learn how to hold it. Put your right hand here, and your left hand here. Feel good?”

Teagan nodded. It felt nice holding a sword, even if it _was_ only wood.

“This grip maximizes agility and the weight of the blade is important because it helps with cutting and parrying and things like that. Let’s move on to cutting.”

For two hours, Teagan learned how to cut and parry without exposing any vulnerable body parts. When Percy demonstrated, he looked like someone straight out of a movie, not that she watched many. With his rugged but angular looks, messy hair, and brilliant eyes, she could sort of suspect that her entire adventure at Camp Half-Blood was a total hallucination, because people simply didn't just look that good. But still, if this was a dream, she did not want to wake up.

Finally, they took a late lunch and parted ways, Percy for the Athena cabin and Teagan for the Hades Cabin. She had to get a change of clothes before she showered. Already, she had an orange Camp Half-Blood shirt and a cord around her neck which would hold beads if she was lucky. The Seven each had at least one bead, a picture of Athena’s statue, just like the one atop the hill. The “peace offering.” Teagan wanted to meet Reyna, but with Frank here, Reyna had to stay at Camp Jupiter.

She’d learned a lot about the Hispanic Praetor and New Rome from the Roman exchanges and it sounded fascinating. She couldn't believe that the stories she’d poured over were actually real!

It was at that moment, gazing upon the demigod campers, happily chatting, she decided she would never leave, never wake up.


	8. The Hades Aura

During dinner, Leo had passed over the Celestial bronze whip that seemed to hum in Teagan’s hands. She’d never held so much as a cleaver between her two hands.

Sure, she had calluses, but they were from extensive monkey bar swinging, not from training. During the campfire sing-a-long, she could feel her muscles starting to ache with that familiar feeling of soreness.

***

The next day, Teagan participated in the usual morning workout, the one that most of the demigods took, which also had a little segment on the lava rock wall (while her muscles screamed in pain). When the campers broke away by cabin to their own activities, Annabeth grabbed her by the hand and led her to a section of the arena.

“You’ve got a whip now, so I’m going to teach you how to use it.”

“Okay.” While Teagan was excited, she was also a little nervous. Annabeth was a force to be reckoned with and she did not want to get on her bad side or disappoint the strict child of Athena.

“Because you’re a beginner, never let go of the grip. You will eventually be able to swap hands and other fancy stuff, but for now, don’t let go. I’m going to teach you some stuff before we get to the dummies.” Annabeth pointed to some hay filled sacks that were about 74% duct tape, and had crude faces drawn in with sharpie.

By the time lunch came, she was completely sweaty and felt like she’d been ironed. Teagan decided not to do the afternoon training session and instead, socialize with some of the other demigods who were around her age. A couple of Apollo kids were playing basketball, so she sat on the edge of the lake to watch them. Before long, a girl and a guy from the Apollo cabin sat down on either side of her.

“Hi!” greeted the girl. “I’m Cassie, short for Cassandra. You’re Teagan, right?”

When Teagan nodded, the guy didn’t miss a beat before asking, “Can you do death magic?”

“Chris!” Cassie scolded. “Sorry about my brother, he’s missing a few brain cells,” she told Teagan, while glaring at Chris.

Chris held up his hands, as if to block Cassie’s rage. “Fine, fine. I’m just curious.”

“You didn’t even introduce yourself!” said Cassie, outrage written all over her face.

“Fine," he said, a third time, "I’m Chris, happy now?”

“Not in the slightest.”

Teagan giggled a little. “It’s fine. Also, I don’t know if I can do magic. I’ve never tried.”

“Maybe you should ask the Hecate kids. Or Nico,” Cassie replied.

When Cassie said Nico’s name, it was a bit hushed, as if he were an ancient spirit no one wanted to talk about.

“What’s wrong with Nico?”

Cassie shrugged and opened her mouth, but Chris cut her off.

“He’s pretty creepy, don’t you think?”

“I don’t know,” answered Teagan. “Maybe he seemed a little quiet when I first met him, but not creepy.”

“All Hades kids are kind of creepy,” Chris blurted out, before putting his hands over his mouth.

Cassie exploded. “Chris! You are the most insensitive person in the universe! Shove off!”

Chris did, indeed, shove off. He shoved himself off the ground and joined the basketball game.

“Sorry,” Cassie apologized. “He was just generalizing things.”

“So you _do_ think that Nico is creepy?”

Cassie turned bright red. “Um, no. It’s just… I’m not… um–”

Before Cassie could get another “um” out, Teagan interrupted. “It’s okay, but he’s not creepy. And Hazel definitely isn’t creepy. I’m sorry if that’s what you think.”

“Uh, okay. I just remembered, I—I have to go do something.” Cassie rushed off, leaving Teagan to puzzle over whether her own vibe was creepy.

She wasn’t so sure about that, but she did wonder whether she could do death magic, so she wasn’t completely _not_ creepy, that was for sure. Teagan gave a great sigh and flopped back down on the grass behind her and stared up at the flawless, cerulean blue sky. As she watched, a flock of sparrows fluttered across her vision and a lone turkey vulture circled, at the edge her peripheral vision.


	9. Rift

Nico was teaching hand-to-hand combat today and Teagan decided to join in. It was definitely easier than sword fighting and plus, she loved wearing gloves, they made her feel powerful. Not the bulky boxing gloves, though, the slim, fingerless ones that Nico wore.

Hazel and the Athena cabin were also at the lesson, which meant that Annabeth and Percy were both there. Teagan was paired up with a girl from the Athena cabin who was also 12 and had brown hair and grey eyes. She was tiny next to Teagan, who would normally be considered short, and her demeanor was the same.

Teagan smiled at her partner, who smiled back, albeit shyly.

“Hi, I’m Teagan,” said Teagan, cheerfully.

The Athena girl averted her eyes from Teagan’s face and almost whispered her name. “Morgan.”

Just then, Nico called for attention. “I’d like one person to grab the pads,” —he gestured to the crates at the back of the arena—”and the other person to get the gloves.” Now, he pointed at the front of the arena, which held crates of boxing gloves.

Teagan started for the front, wordlessly communicating through her eyes. _I’ll get the gloves_ , she seemed to say. Morgan nodded and started for the back of the arena.

Soon, everyone was situated, one person holding the pads and one person wearing the gloves. Teagan could hear murmurs akin to “I’ll get you,” “Not if I get you first,” all around and glanced back at her Morgan, who looked nervous.

“It’s okay,” Teagan said. “I don’t know how to do this, so it’s not like I can hurt you.”

Morgan nodded, turning a little red.

“Start!” called Nico.

Morgan thrust the right pad forward and then left at a speed so fast that Teagan could barely keep up. As the Athena girl threw her pads right, left, up, down, Teagan got the sense that she was a pro. By the time Nico called for a pause, Teagan had sweat pouring down her face, but Morgan barely seemed out of wind.

“How”—Teagan panted—”do you do that?” She put her hands on her knees and gasped for a while. When she finally looked up, she saw that Morgan had a small smile on her face for the first time since Teagan had met her.

“I excel at boxing,” Morgan said, simply.

When class was over, everyone started putting away their things and Teagan motioned for Morgan to follow her.

“C’mon, sit at our table for lunch!”

Morgan paled at the thought of eating lunch with the seven, but Teagan hauled her along anyway.

Annabeth was the first to greet Morgan, as they were in the same cabin. “Hi Morgan, are you sitting with Teagan now?”

Not a peep came from Morgan’s mouth.

“Yes,” answered Teagan. “So… have you read any good books lately?”

It was clearly the right question because Morgan’s eyes came alight as she recalled the book she was currently reading.

“Diogenes the Cynic. It is very enlightening. It is also very funny.”

“Tell me about him.”

Annabeth, Morgan, and Teagan kept up the conversation for the rest of lunch and by the end, Morgan seemed at ease. Each of her sentences had more than five words, and often, they were long.

Teagan patted herself on the back (mentally) and partnered with Morgan again during Annabeth’s weaving class.

***

Over the course of the next few weeks, Teagan and Morgan often teamed up for capture the flag, hide and seek, and numerous other games. Morgan proved a valuable ally because 1) she listened more than she talked, so she knew key gossip, 2) was skilled at planning pranks on the kids who gossiped about how creepy Hades kids were, and 3) could not only box, but also excelled at archery, sword fighting, and acrobatics, all of which Teagan was only half-way decent at.

Morgan warmed up to Teagan so much that she even taught Teagan how to do a back walkover.

But even though Teagan was having fun at camp with Morgan, there were things she missed. Ballet classes, her school and dance friends, even pre-algebra, which made her realize how much she’d loved talking to people who weren’t creeped out by her. She’d even decided to sit closer to the people who were closer to her age so that she didn’t seem so high and mighty at the seven’s table, but no one ever smiled at her even if she was smiling at them.

Morgan promised Teagan that she wasn’t creepy and that the other kids were just jealous and already had prejudices and that Teagan should just keep focusing on trying to trigger those magical powers that Hazel and Nico had. So far, no luck.

***

Rachel Elizabeth Dare, the Oracle, and Reyna, the praetor Teagan had heard so much about, arrived the first week of June and Frank and Hazel were long gone. Nico’s attitude toward Reyna was a lot more affectionate than Teagan had expected, being that Reyna was pretty strict and Nico was only affectionate with Will and Hazel (and occasionally, Teagan). Nonetheless, Morgan and Reyna got along great from the first training session Reyna had given to both Teagan and Morgan.

“When I say attention, you stand, arms at your sides and you don’t move until I say so.” Reyna paced slowly in front of them, inspecting them. “When I say ‘go,’ you lift one leg, at a ninety degree angle, at the same time as me… Go!”

Everyone's leg shot up, except Morgan's and... Reyna's. Two beats after the majority of the campers were wobbling on one leg, Reyna lifted her own and Morgan's followed, in complete unison.

“Good job.” Reyna said it directly to Morgan and there was no doubt that it was only intended for Morgan, not for anyone else. Morgan’s face blazed with pride, even while she stood on her left leg, unblinking, unsmiling. "To the rest of you, only the leader gives the orders and it is your job to adapt and follow. You _always_ follow your leader, whether they are right or wrong. _Always_."

For the rest of the lesson, Reyna taught them how to march in straight lines, never breaking rank, never smiling, which she tested by squeaking a rubber chicken in people’s faces. Only Morgan passed each test, unfailingly.

At the end of class, Reyna pulled Morgan aside and said a few words to her. Morgan’s face didn’t change until she turned away towards Teagan and ran towards her, beaming.

“What did she say?” begged Teagan.

“She said that I would make a great Roman soldier someday!”

Teagan’s face wrinkled up in confusion. “But you’re not Roman?”

Morgan rolled her eyes, still excited. “As part of the exchange program, silly.”

“You really want to do that? To become a soldier?”

Now it was Morgan’s turn to be confused. “Why not?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” said Teagan, vaguely. What she was really thinking was, _So now you wanna_ ask _to be killed instead of trying not to die_. “Let’s go have lunch.”

“Okay...”

For the first time, there was something in between the two girls, something unspoken and quite small, but easily melted. But once ice cream has melted, there is nothing you can do to freeze the cream and sugar back together with only a freezer...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why did I do the ice cream thing, its so cringy???!!!


	10. Entrance

It was June by now and the air was lazy and hot, so it took a while to struggle from her dreams and realize that it was still dark out. Commotion could be heard from outside, urgent shouting, though indistinct.

She sat up, tension and excitement coursing through her veins. There was something going on.

Hastily tugging her sneakers on, she was pushing open the door to swarms of campers running for the Big Hill with flashlights and murmured questions, words snatched by the wind.

She joined a couple of Hebe campers who were chatting with borderline agitation.

“Who wants to bet it's another Hermes?” asked one. Teagan was pretty sure his name was Andrew.

Another Hebe girl scoffed. “As if. I bet it's a Demeter or Aphrodite. Five bucks?”

“Hah,” the first one laughed. “I’m not falling for that one again.”

As they continued to make bets, Teagan was pretty sure what the cause of this midnight excitement was. A new camper had arrived!

Clambering to the top of the hill, she was stunned to see Will and a couple of other Apollo kids working busily around a couple of bodies. With light from the flashlights that other campers held for them, she was horrified to see glimpses of blood through the tangle of arms and legs.

An Apollo camper stood and called, “Make a pathway!”

The crowd heaved and Teagan was shoved to the right by a mass of bodies as a couple of Ares kids picked up the two fallen and lifeless bodies and carefully hauled them towards the infirmary, the Apollo medics following.

After the door was shut, the other campers started to disperse into smaller groups and amble down to their respective cabins. Teagan swore she saw a blonde girl and dark haired boy close the door to the Poseidon cabin and spared that a smile before realizing how shaky and light-headed she felt.

She stumbled off to the side somewhere and collapsed, ungracefully, to the ground.

“Abjectly horrified?” asked a voice from behind her.

Morgan plopped down beside Teagan and began pulling up grass blades.

“I think that boy is a Hermes kid, he looks like one. He’s thirteen, judging by the monsters that were following him. Stanna"—the Hephaestus girl on patrol duty—"said that he and his satyr were being attacked by two sphinxes. I think their chances of survival are about 87% at best because they fainted from exhaustion.”

“Does that happen often?” asked Teagan, weakly.

Morgan shrugged. “Maybe once or twice a month. I was really surprised when you got here without monsters. Generally people your age get at least one or two big ones.”

“I don’t know how that’s supposed to make me feel better.”

“Me neither.”

They sat there in silence until the sky began to lighten.

“Nico’s going to get mad if I don’t get enough sleep, even if he spent the entire night with Will in the infirmary next to some half-dead guys, so I guess I’ll just say good night,” Teagan said.

“Okay,” replied Morgan, standing up and brushing grass from her pyjama pants. “I’ll go too, then. See you tomorrow?”

“Of course.” Teagan yawned and headed off.

As she’d predicted, Nico was not at the cabin when she got there, so she flopped back down in her bed and slept for a couple more hours. She woke up at 9:00, when Nico stumbled in, blearily, and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillows and decided she’d better just get up.

Morgan was already at the pavilion and looking like she’d gotten a full ten hours of sleep, while Teagan felt—and looked—like she’d gotten two.

When Teagan had gotten ahold of her bearings, and some breakfast, she noticed that no one seemed worried about last night, or about the kid and satyr who’d turned up and wondered if she’d, perhaps, hallucinated them. So, she asked Morgan.

“You didn’t,” Morgan assured her. “It’s just that it's kinda normal.”

“Oh,” said Teagan. “Were you the same?”

Morgan nodded. “Except I didn’t pass out. And it was the afternoon. Mira and I were being chased by a couple of Panes, but the patrols killed them. I wanted to, but I didn’t have a weapon.”

“And you were only ten?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow. When did you find out that you were a child of Athena then?”

“A couple days later. I was just sitting by the lake and then the big statue”—Athena’s statue—”flashed her eye lasers and I had this weird silver light around me and then Chiron said I was a child of Athena.”

Teagan tried to imagine the huge, white and gold statue of Athena with silver lasers shooting out of her eyes to a ten year old girl on top of a hill, scared that she was going to be fried up into a grease spot. It was very hard to imagine.

So far, all Teagan knew about the Athena Parthenos was its illustrious and onerous journey to the top of the hill, told by both Reyna and Nico, with demonstrations by Coach Hedge. While it sounded extremely interesting, it didn’t sound all that worthwhile, though perhaps that part could have been the fact that the Coach had said that there had been a hundred legions worth of earthen ghosts that time in Pompeii and if Athena could save Camp Half-Blood, why couldn’t she vaporize even a few monsters for her own sake?

Still, Gaea was gone, and it was partly thanks to the Athena Parthenos, she guessed. It was clear that all the demigods knew that the gods were incapable (not that she’d ever say that out loud), but would continue to suffer in silence because of their loyalty toward mortals.

If only the gods understood that.


	11. Stop Having Kids

Teagan’s dreams had turned darker as of late, but with her new fighting skills, the monsters that managed to leak into her dreams were slashed apart by her whip, which was apparently a part of her essence now.

One humid, July night she was gearing up for the first monster to appear out of the darkness when walls of bones rose up around her. Ivory skulls, cracked femurs, and greyish ribcages towered above her, distracting her from the figure that appeared in front of her.

“Teagan.”

When he spoke, she jumped and lashed her whip in the direction of his voice. The whip passed straight through him.

The first thing she noticed about him were his robes. Blacker than the midnight sky and shifting constantly with iridescent faces, all contorting in pain. Audible wailing came from their tortured mouths.

“Teagan,” the figure repeated.

This time, she was able to fix on his face, pale, stern, and emotionless, surrounded by oily looking black hair.

“Who are you?” she asked, warily, already suspecting.

Nearly like out of a movie, he answered, “I’m your father.”

Teagan’s mind was reeling with relief, curiosity, dread. She wanted to wake up now. A trick she’d learned was that, sometimes, she could close her eyes and imagine sinking deep into her body and then she would wake up. This time, it didn’t work.

“Do you understand?” Hades continued.

Teagan nodded, unable to form words just yet.

“You know of my other children,” he said, sighing, looking a million years old and thirty at the same.

 _Um, duh_ , Teagan wanted to say, but that probably would have been quite disastrous, she would have been fried into a grease spot. “Yes.”

Hades looked at her long and hard. “My children are considered… different. They rarely have normal childhoods. You are my first not to… experience some kind of loss.”

That made sense. Nico had once had a sister who’d sacrificed herself and Hazel had actually died before, and lost her mother. Not for the first time, Teagan wondered whether she’d be more interesting if she’d had a more tragic past.

Back to Hades. He was saying, “I’ve been watching you since you’ve come to Camp Half-Blood-”

Watching? Again?! “Am I some sort of specimen?” she demanded, none too gently.

For the first time, Hades gave a sort of smile. “I understand that you’re a little bit irritated, but it's what I had to do.”

“Mmhm, why?” She raised her eyebrows.

“Did you notice that no monsters attacked you while you were driving here?”

“That doesn’t answer the question, but we’re gonna ignore that. And yes, I did notice that.”

“Well,” Hades said, “that was my protection.”

“So you want to protect me?” Teagan couldn’t imagine why. “But don’t you want me to have to get actual experience? The world isn’t perfect or sparkly or anything and you can’t force me to believe that forever. Besides, mental monsters are the same as real monsters and you’re going to drive me into depression if you do this.”

“It is not my intention to protect you forever, but I’ve observed you and Nico is right, you simply aren’t ready yet.”

“Athena doesn’t ‘protect’ Morgan!” Teagan knew that for a fact. Though Morgan had never been on a quest before (there hadn’t been a quest for exactly six months), the Athena cabin regularly broke into groups of six and took small trips around the tristate area, killing monsters.

“Morgan does not need to be protected.”

Teagan glared at Hades. “Then why’d you tell Nico to collect me anyway? Were you even watching me?”

Hades said nothing.

Her voice was rising, “Why do you have to care about me now? It’s completely the wrong time and I wish that you gods could understand what it's like to be a demigod! I want to do this, in fact, this is my godly duty! Maybe, if you want to protect people, stop! Having! Kids!”

She tried to sink into herself, thought of being solid lead in water. Nothing happened; Hades simply stared at her with flat black eyes as cold and dead as a corpse.

“Let me wake up!” she shouted at him. “Nico was right, you don’t care about your children, _none_ of you do, now let! Me! Wake! _Up_!”

She was suddenly staring up at a black ceiling instead of bone walls and there was someone bustling around her bed.

“Teagan, don’t move,” said the voice of Will, who was somehow in the Hades cabin. “How do you feel?”

Teagan took a deep breath. “I’m okay, I just had… a dream.”

“But you shouldn’t have been screaming like that,” countered Nico’s voice, sounding troubled.

“No, I’m honest. I just happened to meet Hades himself,” she replied, “and I told him to stop having kids.”

There was a small pause in which Teagan assumed meant that the people around her were stunned into silence. Deciding it was okay to sit up, she noticed that both boys were not quite wearing an acceptable amount of clothing. However, she was able to continue without pause.

“He says he wants to protect me and that means I’ll never be able to set foot outside the camp.”

Nico, extremely hesitant, replied, “But, isn’t that a good thing? Monsters are pretty scary, they’re a lot more scary than you think.”

Teagan gave him a _look_ . “You were living by yourself in the freaking _Labyrinth_ with only ghost friends when you were like eleven and you’re telling me I’m not ready to walk down a street in New York City?”

The silence that answered was becoming rather tedious, so Teagan decided it would be better to change the subject.

“How did Will get here so fast? And”—she was becoming a little more devious now—“why is he only in an undershirt?”

Both boys exchanged panicked glances.

“Um–” Nico could not think of a better answer beyond that, but honestly, Teagan didn’t care.

“It’s okay, but honestly, that’s blackmail material, you hear me?”

“Loud and clear,” said Will, clearly turning red, though it was too dark to actually see it. He quickly scrambled out the door and Nico hastily returned to the other side of the Hades cabin.

 _Thank the gods that that’s over_ , thought Teagan, letting the smile slide off her face. She suddenly felt drained. The last thing she thought of before drifting back to sleep was that Morgan would help her with her plan, and she would understand everything.


	12. A New Face

The next morning, Morgan didn’t understand.

“Teag,” she said, the morning following Teagan’s vision of Hades, “you know he’s right, right? Monsters suck.”

“Don’t start on me too,” Teagan groaned. “Just hear me out for a sec.”

Looking unconvinced, Morgan closed her mouth.

“So, the best way to convince people who think you’re not ready, is to be ready, right?”

Morgan winced. “I don’t think that’s how it works.”

“Okay,  _ but _ , if Nico is considered acceptable, then I have to be like that.”

“I think this will end badly,” Morgan said, bluntly. “However, I will help.”

“Think we can get one of the Aphrodite campers to take us shopping?”

***

Leona, the darkest of all the Aphrodite campers didn’t ask any questions, which was helpful. When Teagan and Morgan headed straight for the darkest shops, she didn’t even bat an eye and continued picking through nearly identical black hoodies next to them.

By the end of the afternoon, Teagan had a whole new wardrobe. In the car ride home, they discussed their plan.

“Tomorrow, wear the shirt, right?” Teagan asked.

“No. The earrings.”

“Right. What about the eyeshadow?”

Morgan wrinkled her nose. “A little, I guess.”

“Ugh, I don’t want to wear it.”

“So don’t.” Morgan looked out the window.

“You know I have to.”

“But you really don’t. Your success rate is below 1%.”

“Can you stop with the percentages?”

Silence.

***

Nico didn’t notice her haul of clothing or the little black heart earrings, but he did notice the eyeshadow.

“Were the Aphrodite girls giving you a makeover?” he asked, with narrowed eyes.

“Nah, I just wanted to try something new,” Teagan said, evasively.

“Okay… ” Nico looked suspicious, but he didn’t press it, at least, not yet.

For the rest of that week, Teagan didn’t wear anything suspicious, leading Nico to believe that all was well.

***

When she wore black converse the following Monday, Nico didn’t even bat an eye, and again the week later, she added wore a black bracelet, but both Morgan and Teagan agreed not to wear the eyeshadow again until Nico was fully oblivious to everything else.

Black jeans, skull earrings, and a black hoodie was added to her collection and a week was allowed to pass with all the black clothing until the two girls decided that they were ready for something big.

Instead of wearing her orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, she wore a plain black one and reverted everything else about her outfit back to normal, no jewelry, dirty aqua sneakers, and blue jeans.

Every time Nico passed her, Teagan held her breath, waiting for him to notice, however, everyone was gearing up for Percy’s surprise birthday party and he never even noticed.

Taking this as a success, Morgan and Teagan continued with their strategic and systematic plan. Over the next few weeks, they worked on adding the other black accessories back, like the black jeans and black converse along with the black shirt.

The last week of August, she once again wore her regular attire, but added an oversized black leather jacket. Nico, once again, didn’t seem to look twice.

***

It wasn’t just a show, Nico was aware of none of this until midway through September, Will asked him, “Has Teagan been stealing your clothes?”

Nico blanched. Attempting to recall the outfits she’d worn all month, Nico realized a trend. Then, he sprinted towards the lake.

***

“Wait, so the parabola faces… downwards?” Teagan scratched her head. “Oh my gods, I’m so stupid.”

“Maybe if you tried to memorize the facts, you’d get less questions wrong,” replied Morgan, with her usual matter-of-fact tone. “Let me give you a new ques–”

“Teagan.”

Both girls turned to see Nico standing behind them, looking stern. Then, he looked her up and down, noticing her careful selection of black and normal clothes.

“ _ This _ has gone on long enough. I know I’m not your parents, I can’t force you to wear what you want and don’t want to wear, but I know this isn’t  _ you _ .”

Teagan turned coldly away. “You  _ don’t _ know who I am, you didn’t even realize what I was wearing.”

“Teag,” Nico said, sounding like he was on the edge of a smile, “I’m busy. And I’m not a fashionista, but that doesn’t give you any right to trick me like that.”

“Whatever.”

Knowing he was losing this fight, Nico appraised her for a moment before turning and walking away. He had an idea—a good one—he only had to confirm it with Chiron.

Teagan, too, had an idea. It had marinated quite well within her brain since the first schism between the children of Hades and she was ready to pull out her last card.

“Morgan, I’m running away.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Teagan, why do you do this to Nico, to me? Why do you want to run away? Sure, I wrote her and I have a plan for her, but even as a 2D character, she really directs me more than I direct her.


End file.
